Forwarders want manifest submitted after vessel arrival

INTERNATIONAL freight forwarders are asking the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to change the timing of submission of the electronic consolidation cargo manifest (e-CCM) from six hours before vessel arrival to within the first six working hours after vessel arrival under certain instances.

In a recent letter to Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales, a copy of which was obtained by PortCalls, Philippine International Seafreight Forwarders Association (PISFA) president Nelson Mendoza identified outstanding issues related to the implementation of the electronic-to-mobile (e2m) system at the Manila International Container Terminal and the Port of Manila, including the six-hour manifest rule for the e-CCM.

“At present, NVOCCs/forwarders are required to submit the e-CCM not less than 6 hours from arrival of the vessel. Considering that many vessels arrive during nighttime, there is no time for forwarders to prepare the submissions except by extending work hours and by incurring additional costs in terms of equipment and labor expense,” Mendoza said.

“In addition, there have been many instances where shipping lines commit mistakes and errors in their manifest submission which result in further delays and expose the forwarders to possible penalties for late submission of the e-CCM.”

To address the situation, PISFA is proposing the submission of the e-CCM within the first six working hours after arrival of the vessel under the following circumstances – if the vessels arrive after regular working hours (ie, after 1700 hours of the day and prior to 0800 hours of the following day); and during weekends and on long or extended holidays.

According to PISFA, other outstanding issues regarding the implementation of e2m are the backlog – specifically of amendments to the manifest submission or late submissions – at the Office of the Deputy Collector; and lack of technical support from the BOC after regular hours and during weekends.

Other concerns are: delayed response from the value-added service provider; delays on the part of the shipping lines in the electronic inward foreign manifest (e-IFM) submission resulting in extended work hours and penalties; difficulty in contacting shipping lines for errors in the e-IFM submission during the recent holidays; need for letter from VASP for approval of the Deputy Collector when the e2m server is down (leading to additional delays, costs and long queues); and the fact that the Department of Finance does not know the “number code” for encoding as required for shipments covered with re-export bonds under Section 105 of the Tariff and Customs Code.

Industry observers are hoping these issues will be resolved fully before the implementation of e2m at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport begins soon. The latter, observers fear, may pose an entirely different set of e2m implementation problems.